The Square – Cineaste Series

January 18, 2018 @ 7:15 pm - 10:15 pm

Inspired by an art installation designed by Ruben Östlund and Claes Bang, THE SQUARE has gained momentum at some of the biggest film festivals around the globe. Having won the 2017 Palme d’Or, the film has gone on to win critical acclaim at the European Film Awards, and, most recently, a Golden Globe nomination. Billed as a satirical drama on pretension and privilege in the art world, the film follows curator Christian (Claes Bang) as he works to build a PR team for his new exhibition. Right from the start the pretentious language his team uses in their online catalog catches the eye of journalist Anne (Elizabeth Moss) who confronts him about the unreachable dialogue in an interview. New media becomes a central focus of the film, as a selfishly distracted Christian unwittingly approves a sensationally tasteless video that goes viral and causes backlash against him and the museum as a whole. An egocentric man, he ironically stumbles through the film trying to keep a confident hold on his museum, and, in turn, his entire understanding of reality. Throughout the film the artists being portrayed push the boundaries of artistic license, and artistic surrealism bleeds into the lives of the characters. Östlund’s film pushes against the satire inside the art world, making for an entertaining and approachable glimpse of the inner workings of the gallery space.